Commonwealth of Australia

AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY

Notice under subsection 136(2) of the Radiocommunications Act 1992

NOTIFICATION OF PROPOSAL TO REVOKE THE RADIOCOMMUNICATIONS (COMMUNICATION WITH SPACE OBJECT) CLASS LICENCE 2015

Notice is given under subsection 136(2) of the Radiocommunications Act 1992 (the Act) that the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) proposes to revoke the Radiocommunications (Communication with Space Object) Class Licence 2015 (CSO Class Licence).

Reasons for revocation

The CSO Class Licence authorises any person to operate a station for the purpose of communication with an Australian or foreign space object whose stations are authorised by a space licence or space receive licence. The CSO Class Licence is typically used for satellite systems with numerous or ubiquitous earth stations, such as portable or handheld satellite communications devices. It provides an efficient means of licensing a large number of earth stations, avoiding the need to obtain a licence for every earth station in a satellite system.

The Legislation Act 2003 (LA) provides for the automatic repeal of certain legislative instruments approximately 10 years after they are registered on the Federal Register of Legislation. This process is referred to as sunsetting. To preserve the effect of an instrument, it will need to be remade prior to the sunset date. The purpose of sunsetting is to ensure that legislative instruments are kept up to date and only remain in force as long as they are needed (see section 49 of the LA).

The CSO Class Licence will sunset on 1 October 2025, unless revoked and remade before that date.

The ACMA is proposing to revoke the CSO Class Licence and remake it in substantially the same form, so that its ongoing effect is preserved. The ACMA is currently consulting on the proposed new instrument to replace the CSO Class Licence.  

This notice informs interested parties that the ACMA intends to revoke the CSO Class Licence and remake it with minor amendments.

Comments

Under section 136 of the Act, the ACMA is inviting representations about the proposal to revoke the CSO Class Licence.

The CSO Class Licence is available on the Federal Register of Legislation at: https://www.legislation.gov.au/F2015L01486

The proposed new instrument and the associated consultation paper are available on the ACMA’s website at: https://www.acma.gov.au/consultations/2024-11/proposal-remake-sunsetting-space-object-determinations-and-space-object-class-licence

Interested persons are invited to make representations about the proposed revocation no later than 17 January 2025. Representations should be in writing and should be addressed to:

The Manager

Space Systems Section

Australian Communications and Media Authority

PO Box 78

Belconnen ACT 2616

or by email to: satellite.coordination@acma.gov.au